Final Fantasy 6  The Ninth Dragon
by DamoDamo
Summary: Did you really think that Terra was the only half esper? Cael is a boy following in his esper father's footsteps, keeping the most powerful being of all sealed beneath the earth. But his power is waning, and the beast is about to be set free.


**Final Fantasy 6**

The Ninth Dragon

By Damian Weibler

**Chapter 1**

**The Awakening**

Somewhere, on an island north of the wild Veldt, lies a small forest untouched by the cataclysm that, two years ago, shook the world to its core. Deep in the center of this untouched patch of woods lies a sacred glade, a clearing, a funnel in the earth where the ground slopes down towards a small pool. This pool is deep and pure, fed by a small rivulet of water flowing down from the eastern foothills. Birds chirped in the trees and forest animals trundled about their daily business without a care in the world, perfectly serene, unless you know of the terrible secret held deep beneath this cold, serene pond. Unless, like the young man who watches over this sacred glade, you know of the terrible price it took to seal away the great evil which lies dormant beneath this peaceful scene. Unless you are that young man who sits with such concentration, sweat dripping down his face as he struggles to maintain control over the seal which even now struggles to break and release the creature known only as Eclipse, the ninth Dragon.

Unless you are the half -Esper warrior who holds the future of the world in his hands, unless you are Cael Richards, the son of the dragonslayer Crusader and his human bride.

The warrior struggled, trying ever harder to overcome the will of Eclipse, fighting a battle that he knew that he could never win alone, but trying anyway.

_Surrender boy, you can never win_

Cael ignored the voice, as he always had. He knew that its words were true, his father had kept the evil sealed for almost a thousand years before the cataclysm had occured, releasing the first eight dragons one by one while he had strained all of his power to keep the ninth, the most powerful dragon of all, sealed. Eventually the eight dragons had caught up with Crusader, and sealed him away as he had done to them. Eclipse would have been released then and there, if Crusader's son hadn't been waiting for this day all his life. As soon as his father had fallen to the eight Cael had stood up, he had wanted to go and slay each of the eight dragons as his father would have done, but to do that he would have had to release his hold on the ninth seal, and that would have meant the doom of all life, all creation. Thankfully, through his gift of dragonsight, which allowed him to see the dragons wherever they might be, he had witnessed the slow but steady destruction of the eight, as, one by one they had succumbed to the power of a half esper girl and her friends. A hot half -Esper girl and her friends, Cael intended to meet her one day, if he ever got the chance. But even the destruction of the eight would never be truly enough, for Eclipse's power was far greater than anything imaginable, Eclipse was so powerful, he was able to directly draw magical energy from the Esper world and release it into this world, so that he could then use it for his own vile purposes. The beast had to remain sealed, for all eternity.

_It's not going to happen, son of Crusader, I will be free, you cannot hold me anymore!_

The seal broke.

Cael felt it happen. Felt the power escape. He turned his gaze down to the pool far below him and watched as it began to boil, bubbles bursting as they breached the surface and releasing noxious fumes into the peaceful forest. The birds in the trees stopped singing, the animals in their burrows ceased their daily activities and began to shiver in fear.

Grimacing at the silouette which began to appear below the surface of the pool, at the cracks appearing in the earth surrounding the glade, at the distorted but visible glowing red and purple eyes that stared through his soul, Cael reached over his shoulder and grasped the hilt of his father's dragonblade. The sword was silver, but it looked as though it was forged by an insane and utterly sinister axe murderer. It was jagged, but not like a saw, it had irregular curves and hooklike edges protruding from the blade, designed for the sole purpose of hacking out pieces of dragonflesh. Designed so that it could be used on a dragon in flight it was possible to grip a dragon's flesh with the blade and hold the grip so that the wielder could draw a second blade and use it to finish the dragon off, but Cael knew that if he ever got the chance to use the blade to its fullest potential against Eclipse, he would be very lucky indeed. Going through whatever spells he would be able to call upon once Eclipse returned, bringing with him his own powerful magic, Cael prepared to unleash fire and lightning upon the beast as soon as it left the protection of the prison which had held it for a thousand years.

The earth rumbled as the beast pushed up through it, the birds took flight, seeking to put as much distance between this creature and themselves as possible, the animals hid deeper in their burrows, any of them would be lucky to survive the first five seconds of the coming battle. The earth itself cracked, before exploding upwards and outwards, sending clouds of steam and dust into the sky and making sight all but impossible, but Cael didn't have just sight, he had dragonsight. As soon as the head, huge, horned and with four glowing eyes, two red, two purple, appeared over the lip of the crater Cael attacked. Three bolts of purest lightning arced down from the heavens, striking the beast's head with all the fury of the sky. Exploding on impact, the creature screamed in pain and fury as the magical light of Cael's Bolt spell split its vision. Pressing his advantage, Cael raised his sword to the heavens, before driving its tip into the the earth at his feet and calling forth the power of Fire. Just as the lighting spell faded from the great dragon's head, a torrent of flame replaced it, rising up from around him the fire scorched his body and soul, burning even his magically resistant skin, so great was the magical ability of the half- Esper warrior. Cael then drew his blade out and whispered yet more words of magic, intending to blast his foe into nothingness with his most poweful spell. The fire flowed like water, before compressing itself and exploding with far greater power than even the mighty bolt spell, sending out shockwaves of intense energy which ripped up the very ground he stood on.

Gasping for breath, Cael shielded his eyes from the heat and smoke of his Flare spell. Flames licked at what remained of the surrounding foliage, smoke driving whatever small animals had survived the destruction brought on by Cael's magical assault to either make a run for it or suffocate in their homes. Cael felt for them, but knew that if he didn't do all he could to at least harm Eclipse, then he would go to his grave with nothing but shame.

The intensity of the smoke and heat lessened, allowing Cael to look and see what damage, if any, he had done.

"Heh Heh Heh Heh..." Came the sick, deranged laughter, the voice deep and cruel,

"Not bad, son of Crusader, not bad at all, but it will take more than that to do me in!"

Cael raised his left hand, calling on the magic Eclipse had brought forth he cast his spell at the exact same moment Eclipse's magic was unleashed.

What little remained of the once serene clearing vanished into smoke as a gate into the fathomless void was opened, and a thousand massive celestial rocks tumbled through, crushing and destroying all that they touched. Many of them struck Eclipse, smashing into his huge frame, bouncing off of his armoured hide, but whatever damage it did to him was obviously acceptable, he barely flinched. Many of them struck the earth around, pulverising the land, smashing huge craters into the ground, causing great chunks of nature to fly through the air, crushing and wounding any of the poor forest animals who had not made it to safety. The sheer power of Eclipse's Meteor spell decimated the land all around him, causing devastation the like of which hadn't been seen since Kefka's light had cut through the world, one year ago.

Eventually, finally, the meteor storm subsided, leaving Eclipse surrounded by nothing but sheer devastation where once a beautiful forest had stood.

The evil dragon surveyed his work, gazing in pleasure at the destruction he had caused. Nothing had survived the assault, nothing. Cael's body had been incinerated by the massive levels of magical energy Eclipse had unleashed. His enemy dead, Eclipse did what any good bad guy would do, he gloated. "Foolish mortal fool, none can challenge my powARRRGGG!"

"Should have been watching your back Eclipse!" Cael yelled as he ripped his blade out of the dragon's back, taking with it a sizeable chunk of flesh. His plan had worked perfectly, just as Eclipse had unleashed his Meteor spell his own Warp spell had sent him to an area just behind and above Eclipse's head, well out of the meteor spell's area of effect. Then, while the magic from the meteor spell hid the residue magical field of all weaker spells, he had cast Float, allowing him to remain in his position of safety. Now, as he leapt back he planned his next move. He had been planning this day for fifteen years, ever since his mother had revealed the secret of his birthright to him at the age of six, and he would be damned if he went down without a fight.

He cast his next spell, a lightning quick Haste spell to give him just the advantage he needed.

Dashing forwards, he leapt onto Eclipse's outstretched claw as the monster tried to slash at him. Running up the arm, Cael swung his sword with all of his might, and as the blade connected with Eclipse's shoulder, he cast another spell, causing a poisonous slime to congeal on there, infecting the great monster with a powerful venom would weaken him considerably, at least, that was the plan. Though the monster hissed in pain, the spell that should have caused the wound to rot and fester didn't seem to be working, instead, it seemed to do just the opposite. The gash in Eclipse's shoulder began to heal and, within moments, all of the damage caused by Cael's dragonblade was undone.

"Heh Heh, Heh, nice try boy, but I am the embodiment of dark magic, do you really think that a pitiful Bio spell would actually hurt me? On the contrary, I welcome the soothing touch of poison."

"Well, then, why don't you go ahead and tell me how I should go about killing you then?" Cael retorted, while striving to come up with his next move.

Eclipse's mouth split into an evil grin, showing a hundred wickedly sharp and scything fangs, I've got a better idea," he said as he raised his claw to the sky, "why don't I show you?"

Cael's eyes widened in fear as he recognised the spell Eclipse was about to cast, raising his left hand, he strove to beat Eclipse to the punch. Just as Eclipse's spell was about to be cast however, he stopped, and as the flash of light that signified the success of Cael's spell occurred and the boy vanished, the beast turned around, and cast his spell.

The effects generated by the spell were visible far to the south. On the wild Veldt, leagues away from Eclipse's ground zero, a young boy looked up as the sound of the explosion reached him, just in time to see the light caused by the magic reach its zenith, and become a massive dome of blue energy filled with bolts of blue white light. The sound waves caused the pebbles on the ground to clatter and vibrate and, several seconds after the explosion, the shockwaves reached the boy, launching him end over end, before dropping him in a scrawny bush several metres away, upside down.

The boy blinked in surprise, "GAU!" he exclaimed.


End file.
